Sr. Proposal Manager

Seneca Holdings•Chantilly, VA

About The Position

Seneca Holdings is seeking a highly experienced Senior Proposal Manager (Proposal Manager III) to lead the development and delivery of complex federal government proposals supporting both Department of Defense (DoD) and Federal Civilian agencies. This role is responsible for managing multiple high-value competitive proposal efforts simultaneously, leading cross-functional proposal teams through the full proposal lifecycle, and ensuring the delivery of fully compliant, compelling, and strategically aligned proposals that position the company for contract awards. The Senior Proposal Manager plays a critical leadership role in translating capture strategies into winning proposals and coordinating technical, management, pricing, and executive stakeholders across the organization. This position requires deep expertise in federal competitive procurements, Shipley-based proposal management practices, and oral presentation preparation for technical evaluations and challenges.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
APMP Foundation or higher or Shipley Proposal Management certification.
10+ years of federal government proposal management experience supporting both DoD and Federal Civilian agencies.
Demonstrated experience managing full-and-open competitive procurements under FAR and DFARS regulations.
The ability to thrive in a fast-paced proposal environment with multiple concurrent efforts under aggressive deadlines.
Experience leading proposal teams supporting opportunities valued at $50M to $500M+.
Experience managing proposals within ISO 9001, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, or CMMI-aligned organizations.
Experience supporting IT services, healthcare, engineering, or professional services contracts.
Strong understanding of Section L and Section M requirements, proposal compliance, and evaluation criteria alignment.
Demonstrated experience supporting oral presentations, technical challenges, or live proposal demonstrations.
Experience coordinating cross-functional proposal teams including technical SMEs, pricing teams, subcontractors, and executive leadership.
Strong knowledge of federal acquisition regulations including FAR, DFARS, and agency supplements.
Excellent writing, editing, and communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex technical information into persuasive proposal content.
Exceptional organizational and project management skills with meticulous attention to detail.
Customer service oriented with the ability to prioritize work and meet tight deadlines.
Ability to work flexible hours as needed – possibly including some nights and weekends.
Expertise with MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)
Expertise with SharePoint file management and permissions.
Expertise with Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting DoD agencies such as DHA, Army, Air Force, Navy, or Defense Agencies.
Experience with proposal management tools such as GovDash, AutoGenAI, Loopio, or similar platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead the full lifecycle of complex federal competitive proposals from pre-RFP planning through submission and post-submission activities.
Manage multiple concurrent proposal efforts ranging from $10M to $500M+, ensuring strict adherence to proposal schedules, compliance requirements, and quality standards.
Develop proposals for GWACs, IDIQs, BPAs, and large multi-award contract vehicles.
Translate capture strategies, win themes, customer hot buttons, and discriminators into compelling proposal structures aligned with Section L and Section M evaluation criteria.
Develop and manage detailed proposal schedules, compliance matrices, annotated outlines, and proposal management plans.
Direct and coordinate cross-functional proposal teams including writers, BD leads, capture managers, technical subject matter experts, contracts, pricing teams, subcontractors, and executive leadership.
Facilitate proposal kickoff meetings, strategy sessions, storyboarding workshops, and daily proposal progress meetings.
Drive accountability across the proposal team to ensure timely delivery of high-quality, compliant content.
Facilitate pre-proposal preparation activities for all assigned competitive and recompete opportunities.
Ensure proposals are fully compliant, compelling, and responsive to solicitation requirements while clearly communicating the company’s strengths and differentiators.
Oversee development and integration of technical, management, staffing, and past performance volumes.
Conduct detailed reviews of proposal drafts to ensure clarity, accuracy, consistency, and alignment with evaluation criteria and make actionable recommendations to SMEs and writers on how to improve or strengthen the content.
Lead structured proposal reviews including Pink Team, Red Team, Gold Team, and RFI Reviews in accordance with industry best practices.
Facilitate incorporation of review feedback and ensure continuous improvement throughout the proposal lifecycle.
Lead preparation for oral proposal presentations and technical challenges, including:
Development of presentation storylines and slide content
Coordination of visual storytelling and graphics development
Speaker coaching and rehearsal facilitation
Conducting timed rehearsals and mock evaluation panels
Partner closely with capture managers and business development leadership to ensure alignment between capture strategy and proposal execution.
Support opportunity qualification and proposal readiness activities during the capture phase.
Assist with review of RFPs, RFIs, and draft solicitations to inform capture and proposal strategies.
Ensure adherence to company proposal processes, branding, and best practices.
Contribute to the development and maintenance of corporate proposal libraries, reusable content, and knowledge management resources.
Participate in lessons learned (after action review) sessions and recommend improvements to proposal processes, tools, and workflows.
Support proposal process improvement efforts.
Provide mentorship and guidance to junior proposal managers, writers, and proposal team members.
Serve as peer reviewer on junior proposal managers’ competitive proposal outlines and pre-Red Team compliance.
Promote best practices in proposal development, persuasive writing, and proposal strategy execution.
Perform other duties as assigned.